We’ve all been consuming media long enough to see something come across our timelines, dashes, or feeds that is completely and utterly hated by your side of the internet, the one that you have inhabited over the years. There’s one problem though. No matter how many nasty, rude things are said about it, it still continues to show up where you can see it, and it’s becoming more and more consumable. I’ve seen things become the butt of jokes and then magically gain infamy overnight.
Recently on TikTok, maybe a month or so ago, a new trend arose, making fun of the Netflix original “Tall Girl”. The main actress made a quote at the beginning of the movie explaining her struggle with her type of shoe and ends with “Beat that.” Tiktok, being the community that it is, pounced on the movie and every joke degraded the quote (Quite hilariously, might I add!). I’ve seen plenty of movies and shows go through this cycle, but it’s created a strategic power the internet holds. No matter the reviews, the harshness of the jokes, the raw tearing apart of the content, people will want to watch it.
So many things have been hate-watched, from people wanting to watch so they have reason to back up their hatred to people wanting to see if they might actually like it. The earnings go up for the movie and the viewers launch into the millions for television shows, but somehow the ratings are below 50%, therein lies the success of hate-watching. Humans are social creatures, there is a desire to connect with others and what better way than being up to date and knowledgable on the thing everyone hates right now! It’s fresh, it’s hip, it’s funky, it really fricking sucks!
A prominent showcasing of hate-watching is in the television show “Riverdale”. I have heard of people who like the show, but only have met about 3 or 4 people in my real life that do enjoy the show. There have even been fights on Twitter with members of the cast not being so tuned into what popular culture is thinking about Riverdale. It’s all boiled down to the show having just plain bad writing, but rarely on my Twitter timeline does Riverdale come across without being made fun of, no matter how seriously the scene should be taken.
The schism in content consumption really blares loudly, because until Twitter began to publicly make fun of Riverdale, I (honestly) had not known that people truly enjoyed the show. To me the show was a joke – nothing more and nothing less – and people didn’t watch it to enjoy it, they watched it to clown it.
My friends in my hometown consume different media than I do, and because of that when we watch movies as a girl group, we have completely different takes. While one preferred the Netflix original “The Kissing Booth”, I couldn’t get it over with quick enough. I had come to dislike it beforehand because of the style and the premise, but that’s exactly what drew her in, and because she convinced our group of friends to hate-watch it, it’s getting a sequel. Now my plan of action isn’t to tell you to stop hate-watching things. It’s too therapeutic and enjoyable to just throw away, but I’m calling for everyone to be more vocal. Don’t go ripping people’s emotions to shreds and hurling threats, but when you say that the camera work was rough and the writing felt forced…add the show hashtag on there.
People will agree with you and someone from the show might just see it if enough people boost it. It’s one thing to completely disregard a work as trash, but it’s another to call out the directors and writers for not putting effort into something (and letting it show).
So next time you see something tease or poke at the next “Riverdale” or it’s equivalent, decide whether you really want to see it. If you do watch, let the world know that you hate it. Blog it, post it, put it on your stories, snap it, pin it, write an article about it! Then, the big wigs of the film and television industries might pick up on the Rotten Tomatoes ratings and stop giving us hot feces to watch for entertainment.